World Grand Prix Pool J coaches gather before of first weekend of play in Lima, Peru

Lima, Peru, July 25, 2014 - The city of Lima has been selected to host the first weekend of the preliminary round of the 2014 FIVB World Grand Prix. Canada, Belgium, Poland, and Peru will play at the "Eduardo Dibós Danmert" gymnasium in Lima from July 25 to 27. All the matches in Peru will be broadcasted during prime time by the local television station Frecuencia Latina.

In Thursday’s press conference, ahead of Pool J competition, Peruvian’s coach Natalia Málaga, talked about this new experience for her team. “We are working for the future, our team is very young an it’s a new experience for them and for me as well. I played the World Grand Prix in 1994, but this is my first time as a coach. This tournament is a big challenge for us and an invaluable opportunity to improve our volleyball”.

Canada’s coach, Arnd Ludwig, shared his previous experience playing against Peru: “Few weeks ago we played against Peru in the Pan-American Cup. We won but it wasn't easy, I think that here, with the support of their fans, they will be stronger and it will be more complicated for us. However, we hope to repeat the previous result and win”.

Belgium is going to make their World Grand Prix debut this year playing in Lima. Coach Gert Vande Broek talked about the goal of his team: “It’s a new experience for us to play this tournament, our players are very young and some of them have been here in the 2011 Women's U20 World Championship. After the club season was over, we played some friendly matches to prepare the team. Our goal it’s to be in the final four, and for this reason, we need to focus in every match”.

On the other hand, for the Poland team, it will be their first experience. Piotr Makowski, Poland’s coach, talked about the level of this competition: “It will be the first time that we play in Peru and I hope we can give a good performance. The level of competition of the four teams in this tournament are very similar. I think it will be an intense weekend”.